Easter Morning Coffeecake

Celebrate Easter morning with this coffeecake! Make it a celebration just for you before your guests arrive or add it to your brunch table. Serve on your cutest dishes for an extra-special treat. It is one of the tastiest recipes around.

This is a tried and true recipe, not just from me but from the L.A. school district. Some of you may recognize it if you attended L.A. schools in the 70’s or 80’s. This was published in the L.A. Times after numerous requests. Wish my school cafeteria had served it. Be sure to tell your guests where the recipe originated. It will generate a fun conversation. For example, did your guests take lunch to school or buy lunch in the cafeteria? I bought “hot lunch” everyday. While I loved the food, I envied the kids with the cool lunchboxes. My husband took “cold lunch” everyday. His mom made each child five sandwiches at the beginning of the week and put them in the freezer. They would take one out of the freezer everyday. Between you and me, that does not sound too appetizing. How about you? Were you a “hot lunch” or “cold lunch” kid? What type of lunchbox did you have?

Have a happy Easter!

L.A. School District Coffeecake

Makes 30-40 squares

4 c flour

2 c brown sugar

1 ½ c sugar

¾ tsp salt

2 tsp nutmeg

1 ½ c chopped walnuts

1 ½ c canola or vegetable oil

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbs plus 1 tsp baking powder

3 large eggs

2 c buttermilk

Combine the flour, sugars, salt, nutmeg, walnuts and oil in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly until flour is incorporated and mix is crumbly.

Remove 1½ c mixture, stir in cinnamon, and set aside.

Combine remaining crumb mixture with baking soda, baking powder, eggs and buttermilk. Blend gently until wet ingredients are incorporated into the dry, but take care not to over mix.

We went home for lunch too even though it was a bit of a walk …asked my mum why recently…turns out lunch time was completely unsupervised and a zoo so she felt like it was better if we weren’t there! I do remember going to the staff room to pick up a key for the library later and it was full of cigarette smoke…those teachers completely relaxed over lunch time! Just a different era with different sensibilities!